Northwest Indiana has a thriving arts scene! We have written about the Northwest Indiana Symphony before, but Northwest Indiana’s arts scene contains so much!

Our region is alive with arts – especially in Crown Point in its historic downtown area.

4th Friday Art’s is an example of this – but wait! This was the 27th of August wasn’t it? Yes! But if you missed it, the next time it happens is in November.

The 4th Friday Arts event occurs on the 4th Friday of every quarter from 6 – 9 pm.

Come and stroll through the vibrant square and visit unique local businesses and see beautiful art on display. Meet artists, mingle amongst like minded individuals and purchase some art for your home!

4th Friday Arts is open to any accredited or new artistic medium. Come expecting painters, sculptors, weavers, ballet dancers, musicians, and many more.

The event if FREE (EVEN BETTER!) The event is organized on an annual schedule of venues and artists, so quarterly changes may occur and there are multiple parking locations near and on the square.

We hope that you get to experience the event not just once but many times over, as there is always something new going on in conjunction with the event.

As you can see Crown Point and the rest of NWI has a great art scene and makes a great relocation destination as it offers a high quality of life for its residents!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

Keller Williams Realty-Northwest Indiana Cares is selling raffle tickets to win a framed and autographed Notre Dame jersey of Luke Harangody. A native of Northwest Indiana, Luke has recently signed with the Boston Celtics.  You could win this great piece of sports memorabilia by purchasing a $10 raffle ticket at either Keller Williams office.  Only 300 tickets will be sold and the winner will be announced on September 15^th. All proceeds go to Keller Williams Realty-Northwest Indiana Cares, an organization which benefits local citizens in need.  It is part of the Keller Williams culture for agents to proudly give back to their community.

Purchase your ticket at either Keller Williams office:

1425 Eagle Ridge Dr.

Schererville, IN 46375

(219) 864-5777

Or

503 E Summit Street, Suite 1

Crown Point, IN 46307

(219) 661-1256

Don’t miss out on this chance to own a unique sports collectible. Tickets are selling quickly so get yours today! Keller Williams agents give where they live!

As we all know, Valparaiso Indiana is a great community to live, work and play in!

We have showed over the last year how fantastic a place it is and how integral it is to the Northwest Indiana Region. Aside from our efforts, the Northwest Indiana Times has written a great article on Valpo!

“Welcome Home to Valparaiso” the article is titled! Valpo is less than an hour from Chicago and is the Porter County seat and is minutes away from Lake Michigan’s beaches and dunes.

The community of 30,000 residents is known for its festivals and events, its thriving downtown business district and its education options – including the Valparaiso University.

Also, as we wrote sometime back, it was named Community of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in 2009.

It offers many opportunities for those relocating to Valpo – downtown offers many restaurants and a thriving arts and culture scene. Let alone its many parks and other local amenities.

Valparaiso is very much THE relocation destination in Northwest Indiana!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

Higher water rates may not be exciting or welcome, but a new bus route to Crown Point is!

Hammond Transport was taken over by Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority and despite some confusion, the new expanded service is great for many! – Crown Point is one of the expanded routes!

Buses are running more frequently – some every half hour rather than every hour and with extended hours into later evening! In fact, Bus service is being expanded to almost 15 hours per day and the Saturday service is being restored.

In all, the former Hammond bus agency, now operating as Northwest Lake County Transit Services, is gaining two entirely new routes and three others have been lengthened.

There are still kinks being worked out – such as new signage and bus shelters, but overall the news is great for those who want to use public transport to save money and be a little greener!

Crown Point residents might be rejoicing at a new bus route but may be grimacing at the new water rates.

The rate hike approved by the City Council amounts to about $14.26 extra per month for a user of about 7,000 gallons of city water, which is considered to be an average user. The increase varies depending on water usage and ranges from a minimum $9.27 per 1,000 gallons for the first 3,000 gallons a month to $5.01 per gallon for more than 50,000 gallons a month.

Residents should note that Crown Point raised its rates because water supplier Indiana American Water increased what it charges the city. The annual bill from Indiana American Water went to $2.5 million from $1.9 million when the company won approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to raise its rates.

However, despite this rate hike, it should be noted that Crown Point is a fantastic place to live and that residents benefit from a high quality of life with a generally lower than average cost of living!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

There are not very often many tips for Sellers out there.

But learning the best way to prepare your home is as important as learning tips to help you through the purchase process.

With 84% of people searching for properties online your home does need to make the right impression, but these days that might mean online!

Photos are of course part of the standard offering today – a smattering of nice shots online is expected, so it is up to you as the seller to prepare your home for photographing!

Staging your home helps it sell faster – this is something that is well known. However how to stage your home for photographing is important. Are you marketing to families, couples, single persons or second home owners? When you have decided your home can be staged to tell a story aimed at the particular market segment you are selling to.

Remember:

Remove clutter
Tidy Up
Clean Windows
Make Repairs

Of course create a mood with accentuating the positive aspects of your home, make the most of natural light and set the dining table!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

It is here – the event of the year for Lake County Indiana!

The 158th Lake County Fair has come to life for 2010! Since 1852, the lake County Agricultural Society has held the Lake County Fair, in Crown Point to highlight the importance of agriculture in Lake County.

The Lake County Fairgrounds are full of the sounds and smells that go with the carnival atmosphere!

The event will go on for 10 days and all from Lake County and the surrounding counties will come out to have fun in the sun!

It really is an event that shows off Lake County and its great community spirit. If you are looking for a property in the area while the fair is open – why not take some time off and enjoy it!  See their official website for more!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

It is exciting times here in Northwest Indiana!

However home sales right across the nation give a mixed picture to the market and its current state.

NAR (The National Association of Realtors) has released information on its Pending Home Sales Index which shows that pending home sales have decreased due to the ending of the homebuyer tax credit.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said this is expected said lower home sales are thought to be the order for the short term – however Yun notes that with exceptionally low interest rates then the market is expected to absorb the remaining inventory relatively quickly. Yun may be right, mortgage applications have been said to have been on the up according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However interestingly, home prices have increased. They were around 1.3% higher compared with the month before, but they gained 4.6% year-over-year.1.3% higher compared with the month before, but they gained 4.6% year-over-year.

Of course this is the level of contracts, the level of closings or true sales is quite different. Released at the end of last month, single family sales jumped by 24% seasonally-adjusted basis over May, and were 19% above the totals for June 2009 nationwide.

Despite what appears as a mixed bag of data, overall the feeling is positive here in Northwest Indiana.

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

For anyone considering relocating to an area, finding out more on the history of where you are relocating to is a great idea.

Lake County Historical Museum is a great place to do that! 

Ideally located in the Old Lake County Courthouse, the Museum showcases a variety of memorabilia representing the origination of Lake County and its developing years.

These are many featured artifacts that are a reminder for early life in Lake County – farm tools, clothing, musical devices as well as many unique artifacts – including, a Washington Printing Press, the last edition of the Guttenburg Press.

Tours of the museum are provided and the museum is open to the public every Thursday, Friday and Saturday 1pm to 4pm throughout May to October.

The museum is not-for-profit and donations for admission are $1.00 for adults and $0.50 for children.

With such a fantastic community spirit in Northwest Indiana this could be a great afternoon out with the kids during the summer vacation!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

What a wonderful local community spectacle!

The Northwest Indiana Symphony is not to be missed!

The Symphony is dedicated to providing quality orchestral programming that promotes opportunities for enjoyment and expands interest in and understanding of diverse music and is currently performing its 68th season. It is comprised of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus, and the Women’s Association.

2009 & 2010 is seeing three pops concerts, three classical concerts and an opening concert gala.

The orchestra comprises of 75 professional musicians, the Youth Orchestra contains around 100 student muscians who auditioned to become members. The chorus has over 100 voices who also audicianed and the womens associations contains 120 members who act as the fundraising arm. Particularly when ticket sales are onl 38% of cost to support the orchestra that has a budget of around $1.1 million.

The 2010 & 2011 season will be well underway soon with the first concert in September,

The music and experience is very beautiful and new residents to Northwest Indiana should get out there to experience the awesome sound.

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!

America is a great nation and despite what the press might sometimes have you believe is always at the forefront of embracing new, green technology.

Right now there are 30,000 wind turbines spinning across our vast country and the economic effect of this blooming industry is being felt.

Wind turbines contain around 8,000 parts and they are often manufactured in the US (in fact, about half the components used in wind farms are made in the U.S., compared with 25 percent in 2004) – in particular here in the midwest. Which is poised with the right manufacturer mix to be able to feed the supply chain with parts.

In Indiana, potential component manufacturers could create 25,180 new jobs out of the total $62.2 billion in investment. It is also estimated that 398,000 jobs could be created from the 185,000 megawatts of wind generation that should be installed in upcoming years. Indiana is among the top 10 states for investment and job-creation potential with the state ranking sixth in the number of employees – 53,064 of them – working at firms that have the technical potential to become active manufacturers of wind turbine components.

Even more local, here in Northwest Indiana, LaPorte County is listed among the top 20 counties in Indiana supplying component parts.

This is an excited time for Northwest Indiana!

Thinking of relocating to the Northwest Indiana area? You can use our moving truck for FREE!

As one of the top producing teams of experts in our field both locally and Nationally, our full service team strives hard to make sure your real estate transaction is a truly rewarding experience.

Finding your dream home or finding a buyer is only part of the challenge of a successful transaction. Click here to search Northwest Indiana Real Estate using our complimentary Northwest Indiana Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Jana Caudill and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Northwest Indiana Real Estate needs. You can call the office on: 219-661-1256 or email us on: jana@janacaudillteam.com

We believe you win in life by helping others. Thank you for this opportunity. We would love to help you too!